Niyyah Hayes: Age, Therapist Career, The Traitors: New Blood Status & Episode 4 Update
Niyyah Hayes entered The Traitors: New Blood as a 29-year-old therapist from Indianapolis with a professional background built around listening, observation and understanding how people behave under pressure. Before entering the castle, she had also worked in clinical and forensic settings and was pursuing doctoral training in clinical psychology.
She said before the season that she would rather be a Traitor, but that is not the role she received. Niyyah is a Faithful who remains active after Episode 4, and her biggest storyline so far has been the mistaken theory surrounding Arisa Thomas and Victor Vollbrechthausen.
Current role: Faithful
Episodes completed: 4
Latest episode: Episode 4
Major storyline: Helped connect Arisa and Victor's interaction to the clue about a Traitor opportunity happening in plain sight.
Episode 4 development: Niyyah was among the contestants left behind in the Death Parade challenge while the group continued investigating the wrong recruitment theory.
Current status: Still active heading into Episode 5.
Episode-by-Episode Timeline
Episode 1 — Enters as a Faithful
Niyyah entered the castle as a Faithful after saying during preseason publicity that she would have preferred to be a Traitor. Her initial approach centered on listening, observing and adapting to the people around her.
Episode 2 — Remains in the Game
Niyyah survived the first murder and Round Table sequence while Kim Daily was murdered and Madeline Kostopulos was banished.
Episode 3 — Connects the Clue to Arisa and Victor
Michael Foote and Ben McDonnell chose secret information in the crypt instead of maximizing the cash option. Their clue said that two contestants had recently battled in plain sight for the chance to become a Traitor. Niyyah connected that information to the visible interaction between Arisa and Victor.
Episode 3 — The Arisa-Victor Theory Develops
Arisa had held Victor's hands and asked whether he was a Traitor while watching his reaction. Niyyah viewed the interaction as potentially connected to the clue. The interpretation was incorrect because the clue actually referred to the Katie Fites and Xavier Scruggs Accomplice competition.
Episode 4 — The Wrong Theory Continues
The Faithfuls carried the recruitment theory into Episode 4 while trying to understand the clue and the earlier interaction. Niyyah remained part of the broader investigation as the group focused on Arisa and Victor rather than identifying the actual Traitor recruitment.
Episode 4 — Survives the Death Parade Challenge and Round Table
Niyyah, Victor, Morgan Cook and Mark Zgoda were among the contestants left behind during the Death Parade challenge. Arisa was ultimately banished at the Round Table, while the Traitors later murdered Logan Smith. Niyyah survived both developments.
Latest Episode Update: Niyyah Remains a Faithful After Episode 4
Niyyah enters the next stage of the season with her Faithful identity intact. Her most important contribution so far has been interpretive rather than physical: she helped connect an unusual conversation between Arisa and Victor to a clue that was genuinely about Traitor recruitment.
The clue's real target was the earlier Accomplice competition between Katie and Xavier. Because that connection was not obvious, the Faithfuls spent valuable time investigating the wrong contestants. Arisa eventually received 13 votes at the Round Table and was revealed as a Faithful.
Niyyah Hayes Quick Facts
| Fact | Details |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Niyyah Bilal Hayes |
| Age | 29 |
| Hometown | Indianapolis, Indiana |
| Occupation | Therapist / Clinical Social Worker |
| Professional Focus | Clinical and forensic mental-health work |
| Current Training | PsyD in Clinical Psychology |
| Graduate Education | Master of Social Work, University of Central Florida |
| Undergraduate Education | Florida Southern College |
| The Traitors Role | Faithful |
| Current Status | Active after Episode 4 |
| Pre-Show Preferred Role | Traitor |
| Self-Declared Superlative | Most Likely to Say What's on Everyone's Mind |
Who Is Niyyah Hayes?
Niyyah Hayes is a therapist and clinical social-work professional whose work has included clinical assessment, psychotherapy and forensic settings. Her public professional profile identifies her as Niyyah Bilal Hayes, LCSW and documents experience connected with clinical and psychological services.
Her background is particularly relevant to her Traitors profile because much of her professional life has required careful listening and attention to behavior. That does not make every in-game interpretation correct, but it explains why she entered the castle expecting her ability to read people to be one of her biggest tools.
Niyyah's Clinical and Forensic Career
Niyyah's professional history includes work as a clinical social worker at the Orlando VA Medical Center, where her work involved clinical assessment and case-management responsibilities.
Her later training expanded into forensic assessment and clinical psychology. Her public professional profile lists experience involving family-court assessment and other clinical placements, showing a career that extends beyond general therapy work.
She has also described professional interests involving justice-involved and military populations, health-focused clinical settings and improving access to mental-health care in underserved communities.
Doctoral Training in Clinical Psychology
Niyyah's current academic path includes doctoral study in clinical psychology at the University of Indianapolis. Her professional profile lists the PsyD program as beginning in 2023.
The doctoral work builds on her earlier social-work training and gives her a broader clinical foundation. Her experience includes psychotherapy, assessment and research-oriented work, making her professional background unusually varied for a reality-TV cast member.
Education: Florida Southern College and UCF
Niyyah's undergraduate background includes Florida Southern College, where published academic material identifies her study of psychology and criminology.
She later completed a Master of Social Work at the University of Central Florida. UCF's graduate records identify her among the 2021 MSW graduates.
Her academic interests also included research involving race, aggression and jury decision-making. That work gives additional context to her interest in behavior and how people evaluate information when making judgments about others.
Niyyah's Research Background
Niyyah's academic work has extended beyond classroom study. Publicly indexed research records identify projects examining psychological and social factors in decision-making, including work related to race ideology, aggression and jury judgments.
That research experience makes the investigative side of The Traitors especially relevant to her. Her game strategy is not simply about talking to people; she has repeatedly focused on interpreting behavior and figuring out why a contestant acted a certain way.
Why Niyyah Wanted to Be a Traitor
Before entering the castle, Niyyah said she would prefer to be a Traitor. Her reasoning centered on the information advantage: a Traitor knows more about the hidden structure of the game while the Faithfuls have to work from partial evidence.
She also described a deliberate personality adjustment. Because she talks frequently in professional settings, she wanted to do more listening and observing in the castle. She described herself as a chameleon who could adapt to different people rather than locking herself into one rigid social group.
She ultimately entered as a Faithful, which meant the observational strategy became a tool for identifying Traitors rather than hiding as one.
Niyyah's Actual Strategy in the Castle
Niyyah's early game has been built around reading interactions and trying to make sense of the information available to the Faithful group.
The Arisa-Victor storyline is the clearest example. She noticed an unusual body-language test, listened to the interpretation of a crypt clue and tried to connect the two. The connection was wrong, but the process itself shows the kind of information-gathering strategy she described before the season.
The show has therefore given viewers a real-time test of the strategy Niyyah said she would use: observe first, interpret second and adapt as new information appears.
Niyyah and Arisa Thomas
Arisa Thomas became one of the most important people in Niyyah's Episode 3–4 storyline.
Arisa's interaction with Victor looked unusual enough to attract Niyyah's attention. When combined with the crypt clue, it created a theory that Arisa and Victor might somehow have been involved in a secret Traitor recruitment.
The theory was incorrect. Arisa was a Faithful, and her elimination in Episode 4 became another example of how an innocent interaction can be interpreted as evidence in a game built around hidden information.
Niyyah and Victor Vollbrechthausen
Victor Vollbrechthausen was the other half of the theory.
Niyyah's attention focused on Victor because he was the person being tested by Arisa. The combination of their interaction and the recruitment clue made him look like a possible participant in something the Faithfuls did not understand.
Victor survived the Episode 4 Round Table with six votes, while Arisa received 13. The result confirmed that the theory did not reveal an actual Traitor recruitment.
Niyyah and the Death Parade Challenge
Episode 4 also gave Niyyah a more direct competitive storyline. During the Death Parade challenge, she was among the contestants left behind with Victor, Morgan Cook and Mark Zgoda as other players advanced the gold cart.
The challenge mattered because contestants caught by the Death Parade could become possible murder targets. Niyyah survived that stage and remained in the castle after the Traitors later chose Logan Smith instead.
Niyyah's Current Game Position
Role: Faithful.
Current status: Active after Episode 4.
Main storyline: Helped interpret evidence around the Arisa-Victor theory.
Professional edge she brought into the game: Listening, observation, rapport and behavioral analysis.
Important development: The real clue was about the Katie-Xavier Accomplice competition, not Arisa and Victor.
Current Role & Status
| Category | Current Information |
|---|---|
| Role | Faithful |
| Status | Active after Episode 4 |
| Episodes Completed | 4 |
| Main Episode 3–4 Storyline | Connected Arisa and Victor to the recruitment clue |
| Episode 4 Challenge | Among the contestants left behind in the Death Parade challenge |
| Episode 4 Outcome | Survived; Arisa was banished and Logan was later murdered |
| Next Episode | Episode 5 |
Niyyah Hayes on Social Media
Related Traitors: New Blood Profiles
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Niyyah Hayes a Traitor or Faithful?
Niyyah Hayes is a Faithful.
Is Niyyah still on The Traitors: New Blood?
Yes. Niyyah survived Episode 4 and remains an active Faithful heading into Episode 5.
What did Niyyah think about Arisa and Victor?
Niyyah connected their unusual interaction to a clue about two contestants competing in plain sight for a Traitor opportunity. The theory was incorrect because the clue actually referred to the Katie Fites and Xavier Scruggs Accomplice competition.
What does Niyyah Hayes do for work?
Niyyah is a therapist and clinical social-work professional with experience in clinical and forensic settings. Her academic path also includes doctoral training in clinical psychology.
Where did Niyyah go to school?
Her education includes Florida Southern College, a Master of Social Work from the University of Central Florida and current PsyD training at the University of Indianapolis.
Did Niyyah want to be a Traitor?
Yes. Before the season, she said she preferred the Traitor role and planned to rely on observation, listening and adaptability.
What happened to Niyyah in Episode 4?
She remained in the game and participated in the Death Parade challenge. She was not eliminated at the Episode 4 Round Table and remains a Faithful.
Sources
TV Insider: Episode recaps covering the crypt clue, Niyyah's involvement in the Arisa-Victor theory and Episode 4's game developments: TV Insider.
NBCUniversal: Official The Traitors: New Blood cast announcement and Niyyah's role as a therapist: NBCUniversal.
TV Insider cast guide: Preseason cast details, role preferences and superlatives: TV Insider.
University of Indianapolis: Graduate psychology program and academic information: University of Indianapolis.
University of Central Florida: Graduate education and MSW background: University of Central Florida.
Florida Southern College: Undergraduate academic background: Florida Southern College.
Niyyah's public LinkedIn profile: Current professional, clinical, academic and research background: LinkedIn.
Niyyah's existing TraitorsNewBlood profile: Original profile information and social details: TraitorsNewBlood.digital.
Full Cast & Live Statistics: Current roster, roles, status and eliminations: TraitorsNewBlood.digital.